JBL
N24
Bookshelf Speakers

Product Description

Wish you could afford that great pro JBL sound? Give a listen to Northridge. JBL's leading-edge research into sound, hearing and speaker design has enabled the company to create moderate-price loudspeakers with anything but moderate performance. From their titanium-laminate-dome tweeters with EOS waveguides to their PolyPlas woofers and midranges, Northridge speakers are loaded with technology to bridge the gulf between the science of sound and the art of music and movies. They are available in

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
soundsurfer
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: October 24, 2009

Bottom Line:

Wow...I can't believe the deals at pawn shops in Phoenix on stereo gear these days. I just bought 4 N24's and the N24 center, 5 speakers, for 60.00 dollars out the door at a shop on Scottsdale Rd...I don't think little old lady knew what she had or someone miss marked them..Hee,hee! Drove down the street the next little dirt bagger shop, I mean land of oppurtunity, and to my surprise there they sit. A Velodyne 10" subwooer on one shelf and a OnkyoTX-SR600 on another and both in pristine condition!..smirk..smirk...135.00 out the door..for both!...Smiling and fist pumping the whole way home..I spent about 20 minutes hooking it all up turned it on and smiled even bigger with a little dance! I have been in complete amazement of my system for the last 6 months! Whatelse do you want for a most incredible old scool set up for under 200!!!! Bose.smose..

I purchased these speakers in conjunction with N26 fronts, and The N-center (which are all OUTSTANDING SPEAKERS!!) I used them as rears..and they have very good clarity and detail. The bass is not room rumbling..but I don't know what people are complaining about here, Thats what a sub is for!! I have another set downstairs as a 2 channel system just for music. Compared to what I had here before (some Aiwa speakers) The sound dispersion is GREAT and very good musical clarity also. Of course...these dont sound great when the volume is turned up loud...unless you lower your bass and turn on a sub..than they are acceptable. I am running these through a new Panasonic Sa=He100 (also an outstanding reciever, not the best but good for the price)

In Conclusion, one whp should buy these speakers is someone who is looking for a space saving speaker but does not want to have unforgiving sound quality. Great for rears, or casual music listening. I wouldnt recommend for someone looking to get loud sound out of these

Also, the wall/ceiling mounts that are included with these speakers are GREAT and a cinch to use.

I purchased two sets of these at $70 per pair. I already owned an N-Center and a pair of S-38's; but I wanted to match the front and rears for the best possible home theater experience.

Although the sound is pretty good, I'm a bit disappointed in them. Both the highs and mids are not as good as I expected. They sound muddy to my ears. The other thing I noticed is that they seem to need more power to get them moving. I'm not talking bass, just sound in general. I have to have the sound up much higher than with sole of the other speakers I've tried.

Overall they are not bad for the price I paid; but if I paid $200 per pair I'd be pissed. Actually, no I wouldn't, I would have returned them. But it still would have been a waste of my time.

I'm not totally ready to give up on them however; I should be getting a better reciever in the near future and the power thing may not bother me as much as it does now with the limited power I get from my Technics SA-DX950.

I will probably be making some custom cabinets for these also which may change my opinion slightly too. Either way they will be used in my home for now, so I'm gonna make the best of em' and get the looking better than they do in thier original boxes.

As for matching up with the N-Center, they do wonderfuly. They blend very well for movies and tv. I really notice the muddiness when listening to music. My other option was to use them as surrounds and keep either the S-38's or a pair of Cerwin Vega VS-150's as mains.
The Vegas offer the best high end clarity and deep bass, but I have to sacrifice lots of space in a limited room.

Guess I have alot of experimenting left to do. If size is a major issue for you, these are not bad but shop around. You can still find some really good prices on them and they wont be around too much longer from what I've read.

These are not bass speakers. Dont expect them; or any other speaker in this size range to be good with bass. If you do your, well, use your imagination.

I've owned various speakers from JBL over the years (along with other brands, Altec Lansing, Bose, MK, etc..) and I've always been impressed with JBL and use JBL in my current systems. I just got these NS24's to replace a couple of speakers in one of my systems, and I think they are great. High ends are crystal clear, mids are good, and the low hits close to the 75 - 80hz rating JBL gives them. I know there have been a lot of complaints on here about these speakers and not dipping low enough, but I think they are fine. If you want lower bass response thats what your sub is for! I know some bookshelf speakers hit as low as 50hz, but realisticly the spread between 75hz and say about 50hz isn't audibly that much. Plus with most powered subs you can set the response to somewhere around 50 - 60.
I'm using the NS24's as front speakers with my JVC receiver pushing a max of 100 watts through each which is typical, and they sound great in a 5.1 set up, and just as good in a 2 channel setup. The midrange can get a little muddy at times, but nothing to gripe about. The best part is I got these speakers for $56 through Harmon Kardon's e-bay store, and they are remanufactured (by JBL) and you wouldn't ever be able to tell. The construction is top notch, and the sound is great for a pair of speakers which originally had sold for about $200.

these speaker are great for the rear they dont have what its takes to be in the front but are excellent for the rear..they just didnt have the highs to match up with that bose center channel speaker the bose would drone them out..